US: ‘meaningful progress’ made in talks with Taliban

Washington, Mar 13: The United States and Afghan Taliban made 'meaningful progress' in recent peace talks that concluded in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, said the US State Department.

The Taliban agreed that peace would require both sides to fully address four core issues including counterterrorism assurances, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a comprehensive ceasefire.

"We've received reports back from US diplomat and the Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad that they've had meaningful progress," Robert Palladino, the State Department's deputy spokesperson said.

"In this round of talks, we were able to move to agreement in draft on the first two principles, counterterrorism assurances and troop withdrawal," the spokesperson added.

Qatar on Tuesday announced that the United States and Taliban have made progress in their longest round of negotiations in Doha to end a 17-year-old war in a strife-torn Afghanistan.

It is unclear, however, if the Afghan government and other Afghan political leaders will be ready to embrace the tentative deal worked out by Khalilzad. UNI